Hi brothers and sisters in Christ! :)

Pace yourself for a long newsletter this time, hehe :) Let's start with what just happened..

Attending Lifeline Camp 2007 at the foot of Genting from the 31^st of Aug to the 2^nd of Sept has to be one of the best decisions I have made this year. The camp whose theme is of 'Love', gave me more than Love to think about,thanks to inspirational speakers. Auntie Rita pointed out aspects of Love we sometimes fail to see, Adrian Ng from CKK emphasized the Holy Trinity and how it is encompassed in us, and Mark Solomon talked about 'Love Expressed'.

During the 3 days and 2 nights there, my favorite parts of the day have to be the "Praise and Worship" sessions which were held morning and night. People become unself-conscious and simply left themselves up to God in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was also my first time 'leading Worship', so I was a nervous wreck before having to play the keyboard. Our Music Ministry members prayed over each other and we submitted ourselves to God. And when we did submit ourselves, He came to be with us. He used us as instruments to spread His word through music.

This experience of God so close to me will be remembered. For those of you who are faint-hearted with the topic of Love, don't be. You may have relationship problems and may not trust Love anymore, but what is man's love compared to God's love? God has loved us first. He is always there to see to us, and will always answer our prayers in His own way, given time.

Loving people who love us is easy. But to love those you think you could never love is the form of love we should all set to do.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Before we go on any further, what is a cell group and what do we do?

Membership in a Christian community, by God's standards, means accepting God's grace tobecome one with the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ as the Fatherand Jesus are one (Jn 17:21). Membership in a Christian community, by God'sstandards, means accepting God's grace to become one with the Lord and ourbrothers and sisters in Christ as the Father and Jesus are one (Jn 17:21). Christiancommunity is what we see in Jesus' ministry. It is an "intentional"community. Jesus intentionally chose twelve apostles in whom He invested Hislife. We too should discern our own "twelve," with whom the Lord hascalled us to share our lives in a special way. People who share a commondirection, ie. Wanting to learn more about God, can get to where they wantquicker because they are traveling with people they trust, with guidance andsupport on the way, together with affirmation ad genuine care. All this can be foundin a cell group, where members come together regularly to hear the word of God (extracted from lifelinedisciples.org, excerpts written by Josephine Tan).

13 reasons why we need a community:


1. to be baptised brothers and sisters in reality, not just name (1 Cor 12:13).

2. because we need each other.We're created that way (1 Cor 12:21).

3. for full power in evangelisation(Jn 17:21).

4. for the full release of the spiritual gifts, because the gifts are for the common good
(1 Cor12:7).

5. to experience fully Jesus' presence (Mt 18:20).

6. to hear God fully (Jn10:27).

7. for protection (Mt 18:12;Eccl 4:12).

8. for strength (Eccl 4:12; Gn29:3).

9. for growth in holiness (Prv27:17).

10. for exponential growth in power (Lv26:8).

11. to 'harvest' those who have experienced renewal (Hag 1:5-7; 2 Jn 8; Rv 3:2).

12. for authentic love (1 Jn 3:18).

13. to obey Jesus (Jn 17:21)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In our cell group, we learn and go over Bible Studies regarding various topicseach week, and also covering materials from Joan of Arcadia, a televisionseries of a girl who receives real life visions from God Himself. Each sessionstarts with a simple Worship session, and this may be in many forms (prayers,rosary, music, etc.). This semester we have also incorporated a small segmentwhere we share 'How we have been Christ-like that week'. This question posedmay encourage each member to move in God's direction always.

Thisweek, we shall be reflecting on the issue of 'Trust' and 'Faith'. A question youcould ponder on is, "What is the difference between 'Believing God' and 'Believingin God'"?..

If you find this interesting, do join us:
When: Friday, 7^th September

Where: Frankl Lab, KPD Block E, Level 1

Time:1 2-2pm and fellowship afterwards

Whatto bring: A Bible and writing materials

If you have any questions about our cell group and what we do, I'm justa number away (017 259 0376). Hopeto catch you there, God Bless ;)

Agape,

Magdalene